Editorial
Traders reap benefits of procurement drive
Lower cost of production, more banks loan to farmers
WE are concerned at the field reports that instead of farmers it is the traders who are making profits from the rice procurement drive. Peasants are selling paddy to the millers and traders at lower prices than the rate fixed by the government. The farmers in the major rice-growing areas like the northern districts and Comilla region are selling paddy at around Tk 400 and Tk 450 per maund respectively, whereas the government price is fixed at Tk 560. Farmers are saying that the prices they are getting from traders or millers do not even cover their cost of production.
Why they are constrained to sell to the traders? There is the phenomenon of the cycle of paying back loans at high interest rates to the lenders for which farmers hardly see profits at the end of the day. Traditionally, small and medium scale farmers borrow money from the traders at high interest rates because of lack of bank loan facilities, and as a result, they are compelled to sell paddy to them after harvest. This is the main reason why farmers cannot sell paddy directly to the government at the fixed price.
This clearly indicates how the farmers are not seeing any profit after doing all the hard work. It is indeed disturbing that though the government price is aimed at safeguarding farmers' interests, in reality the subsidy is going to the pockets of the millers and traders since the government is procuring bulk of rice and paddy from them. Sensing the government high procurement price, traders and millers had reportedly purchased huge amounts of paddy ahead of the procurement drive.
It has been suggested that gradually, the government should build up capacity for buying paddy directly from the farmers for drying, milling and stocking. We feel this should be given utmost attention by the authorities concerned, besides forming a national price commission to fix prices of agricultural products for ensuring farmers' interests. Also, serious effort should be made to cut down the input costs of production by increasing subsidies in that area. Farmers must be given all out support for keeping the wheels of economy rolling.
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